Originally Posted by piepatch
This is off the subject a little, but I just remembered that my father in law used to put horehound candy in a jar and pour whiskey over it and let it "set". If I remember right, the whiskey would sort of melt the candy into a syrup that he used for cough medicine. I had never heard of horehound candy before I saw him do this. This is something I found online about horehound candy:
Once upon a time, candy was the way to treat sore throats and upset stomachs. Peppermint sticks and cough drops delivered a quick and easy dose for those who were feeling under the weather. Horehound candy is part of this primarily European tradition.
Horehound is a member of the mint family and was used to soothe sore throats, stimulate appetite, and as a relief for gas. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found horehound to be mostly ineffective, other countries have found horehound effective as an anti-inflammatory and for relief for bronchial complaints. Testing is being done in the U.S., France, and Germany to uncover all the possible purposes horehound may be hiding. Some studies are promising in showing that horehound may have medicinal properties.
Wow, the memories...........I had the most wonderful grandparents a kid could ever have. My brother and I just loved spending our summer days with them. We always awoke to the smell of bacon and the chickens announcing the morning. And would go to sleep listening to our grandparents saying their prayers at night. Slept with so many quilts on top of us that we couldn't turn over on those cold days that we stayed with them.
We always went to their house on Sunday afternoons and Granny would always have a huge bowl of fried corn which she knew my brother and I just loved. In The mornings she would always give us a cup of coffee (lots of sugar and milk) so we could feel grown up.
My grandfather had a powerful sweet tooth and we would walk (he never did drive) to a little country store at the end of the street where he would always buy horehound candy for himself and whatever we liked for ourselves. He lived to be 86 and I miss him so much. I cherish those memories. Thanks for the memories.